Word.ws English Dictionary

engram

/ˈɛnˌɡɹæm/

engram noun: a postulated physical or biochemical change in neural tissue that represents a memory.

Noun

engram (plural engrams)

  1. A postulated physical or biochemical change in neural tissue that represents a memory.
    • I use the word engram to denote this permanent change wrought by a stimulus; the sum of such engrams in an organism may be called its "engram-store," among which must distinguish inherited from acquired engrams.1921 January, Richard Semon, “II (Engraphic Action of Stimuli on the Individual)”, in Louis Simon, transl., The Mneme, Cornell University Library, published 2005, page 24
  2. A painful, negative mental image representing a past event.

Proper noun capitalized: Engram

Engram

  1. A surname transferred from the given name, a rare variant of Ingram.

engram meaning in Tamil

engram in Tamil

மணிச்சுவடு

Forms of engram

pluralengrams
alternative formengramme

Origin of engram

Borrowed from German Engramm which was coined by German evolutionary biologist Richard Semon in 1904. First attested in English in 1921 (see quotation below). Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + γράμμα (grámma, “writing, picture”).

Words formed from engram

Questions about engram

What does engram mean?
Engram means a postulated physical or biochemical change in neural tissue that represents a memory.
What is engram in Tamil?
Engram in Tamil is மணிச்சுவடு. See Engram meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is engram?
Engram can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce engram?
Engram is pronounced /ˈɛnˌɡɹæm/.
What is the plural of engram?
The plural of engram is engrams.

Words near engram in the dictionary

  1. engrained
  2. engrainer
  3. engrainers
  4. engraining
  5. engrains
  6. engram
  7. engrammatic
  8. engramme
  9. engrammes
  10. engrammic
  11. engrams

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: engram (page history and authors); Engram (page history and authors); engram (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-engram.wav.

Cite this entry: “engram.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/engram. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.